Posted on 05/26/2025 9:03:50 AM PDT by Signalman
From what I’ve seen, Walmart was leasing space to other providers like EVAmerica and Charge Point. They were usually located far enough away from the stores parking not to be a factor. I’m guessing someone in corporate decided it would be better to get the charging fees rather than rent. Smart move on their part. No worse than the semi’s or RV’s that have a tendency to take up space.
Yeah. And?
Nice meme but a real two cyl or 1 cyl 500cc motorcycle engine and a gallon paint sized 400hz triple phase alternator could fit in the frunk with a 1 cubic foot 7 gallon foam filled fuelcell. Silicon carbide rectifier would be the size of a book for a 50 kilowatt 800V DC output directly to the main power bus of that Tesla. The BMS then just needs to decide use that 800V for the motor or dump it into the pack for later use. That’s like a dozen lines of code in the BMS since it already does regenerative braking at well over 50KW from the motor itself.
Running a 500cc at 50 kilowatts net output from that 400hz alternator is near the peak efficiency point for a 500cc four cycle engine. You should see 35-40% BSFC this would be 60 miles per gallon in a E10 fuel of 120,000BTU / US Gal. There was already a engineer who put a diesel generator into the trouble of a model S and wired it to the BMS it was only a 25hp engine and it still managed 50 mpg running flat out well past it’s peak BSFC point it would have been 80+ mpg if he had run it at 75% power he had all the fuel flow deets in his posts and videos.
Someone is going to make a fortune making 400-800V DC generators in a portable package with a 5-10 gal fuel cell. Properly engineered they should be portable by hand at modern power density for 500 cc motors and tiny 400Hz aerospace grade alternator. For comparison the 170KVA alternator in a Boeing 777 is the size of a ten gallon paint can and can be picked up with two hands this includes the gearbox needed to slow the turbine input to generator speed too.
40% BFSC to electrons is 112,000>44,800BTU which is also 13.13kWh a Model 3 Tesla 5 passenger sedan uses 180 watt hours per mile A.C.on and in suburban/urban traffic conditions I have seen as low as 85when/mi in grid lock.
13,130wh ÷180why= 72.9
I would expect a Prius level which hits at least 40% BSFC hybrid set up to yield 72 mpg in a Model 3 sized EV and auxiliary generator set up when engineered to be a genset.
I have charged my Model 3 off my triple fuel generator before it’s a 15,000 watt with a NEMA 14-50 240V outlet. You have to bind one of the grounds to earth easy with a $5 binder plug from Amazon and then you don’t ha’ve a floating neutral anymore the L2 then sees it as “grid” power. At 32 amps charging I weighted the fuel tank before and after and then divided it by the watt hours used later to drive it. Worked out to 34.2 mpg equivalent. For every gallon of fuel that generator burnt it put enough NET charge including charge losses to push that Tesla 32.2 miles down the road.
For remote camping use with an overnight charge when you are going to be running the genset for camp loads anyways is good enough. 32 amps is half ish of the 62 amps it will out put and camp loads are even with the window AC unit blowing into the tent over 30 amps at 240v or 60 at 120v. We use led lights , the biggest load is the keurig or airfryer or microwave at 15amp max.
After years being in the field for the military and geology I don’t ruff it I glamp with the best of them. AC, lights, modern cooking, fans, spot lights, crock pot, blender for.frozen drinks , portable refrigerator & ice maker, one of the 50” LED and Starlink Mini plus Roku. Water pump+ black solar heating 100ft hose coils for showers too. Let hose across ground fill with water let sun heat hose to scalding hot...pump unto hanging bag let temper to not skinmelting, enjoy shower then much tent sexing :) every loves tent stuff.
There are people who have made mountable generators for Tesla one guy mounted one in the space that was the trunk it was diesel and it got 50 mpg. He took it 3000+ miles round trip from.The Midwest to Florida and back without ever stopping to.charge. It ran full out while he drove and when he stopped to sleep overnight it.ran until the pack was full then shut itself off. In the morning he drove away with a full pack and turned it back on when it had hit like 50% gone.
You could just as easy install a class 2 hitch and hang a shelf on it like the kind for bikes or luggage those are rated for 500lbs a purposeful engineered 500to to 400hz alternator to rectifier would be a hundred lbs or less. One cubic foot of fuel is 7.5 gallons in a leak proof foam filled fuelcell the kind dragster use but way smaller. You only need two wires to the main bus one plus one minus at 400-800V DC the generator just load follows by voltage control feed back the BMS would handle the rest natively based in the main bus voltage. If it’s above pack voltage it enters a charge state if it’s below pack voltage it allows pack amps to flow out to stabilize the voltage drop and firm up the load if it’s equal it does nothing and the generator amps flow to the motor directly. Regen is the same as higher than pack voltage this is how the car normally works on regen.
I have charged my Model 3 off my generator many a time now at the beach or camp spot, same for my Model Y which goes off pavement at times. My wife knows Elon so we probably will get a Cybertruck soon. I am eager to test it out off road. One of her college roommate is an engineer for Tesla at GigaAustin too.
Drool...this is the Cybertruck of dreams.. Armored,gas turbine charged, 50 caliber mount ready.
I have no idea where any are in my city.
Cool. I’ve seen Model Ys used for single-person camping.
Their software has a “camp” option.
Camp mode rocks, we used it in November while in Terlingua for the chili cook off. It keeps the media on and also keeps what ever temp you set it at AC or heat pump heat. It is smart enough to alert you it’s going to stop at 20% SOC or lower. We had the hitch on so the genset plus 5 jerry cans were on that. There is only one ALON petrol station in town or for 20 miles circle for that matter you better bring some with you they sell out during chilli fest too.
There is no public L3 or L2 chargers in the ghost town of Terlinguia closest is Alpine 80 freedom units away. You can find plenty of 30 amp RV hookups at camp grounds and RV parks in town and at Big Bend 50 mi away but during the cook off unless you reserve a camp or RV spot 6+ month’s in advance ha forget it the whole town is full of RVs and tailgaters it’s what you do for the cook off.
My 15,000 watt genset was popular with the Tesla gang I was selling charges to 80% at $30 each, always be entrepreneuring. See a Need = fill it. That genset will fill two Model Y in 8 hours from 10% to 80%, I filled mine to 100% the first night in town and didn’t need to fill it again , had enough left after camp mode to make it to Alpine and a 30 min supercharger and piss / beer stop.
With the right plugs binder and your portable Tesla L2 cord most any generator that has a 30 or 50 amp nema plug will 80% charge a Tesla in 8 hours or less.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.